Should have known. Should have known Kobe Bryant wasn’t going to have everyone be talking about Los Angeles on Sunday and have it be only about the Oscars. A few states away Bean faced off in a game just like old times, a 103-99 win over Dallas that featured an old shootout between stars and one of the best NBA tweets we’ve ever seen afterward. Read More »

Only two dozen or so games remain in the NBA regular season and we still don’t fully understand the identity of either the Rockets or the Nets. Brooklyn’s right in the middle of the East’s divide between the upper and lower half of its playoff spots. Read More »

As the first leg of the NBA season has closed, player values have fallen in place. Of course there are some exceptions, like if some of these players just happened to start off ice cold or riding a hot streak. However, by this time statistics have evened out. Read More »

FRESH PICKINGS: Isaiah Thomas (55 percent owned in Yahoo!, 59 percent in ESPN) After recent clamoring from the Sacramento locker room and a minor injury to Aaron Brooks, Isaiah Thomas has finally been given a chance to start. Read More »

FRESH PICKINGS: Kawhi Leonard (56 percent owned in Yahoo!, 68 percent in ESPN) After singing Kawhi Leonard’s praises a few weeks ago, he did me dirty by taking a little extra time to heal his bum knee. Now back in action, he put up 17 points, four rebounds, two assists, five steals and three treys in his first start back. In fantasy, Kawhi is a steals specialist, and while he isn’t going to wow you in any other category, he’s not going to hurt you anywhere either. Read More »

Christmas came early for the Lakers. Steve Nash is back, and he brought one of the Lakers’ most impressive wins of the season with him. L.A. had to fend off a list of issues to win against the Warriors: Jarrett Jack (29 points, 11 dimes) torching them, Dwight Howard foul trouble, a 14-point deficit, and Kobe Bryant (16-for-41 shooting, 34 points, 10 boards) shooting so often they classified his arms as unregistered firearms. Read More »

Beginning this past Saturday, players signed this summer are now available to be traded, and even though we haven’t seen one as of this writing, there will be some moves before the New Year. Now that there are more players available, and GMs call sheets just got a lot longer, who could be making a move before the next deadline on January 15? Read More »

The Warriors, off a nifty backdoor cut basket that would have made Pete Carril proud, beat the defending champion Miami Heat last night, 97-95. It was their fifth-straight win on the road after a disappointing loss to Orlando at home on December 3. Read More »

Believe it or not, there were some other significant moves this offseason than what “SportsCenter” would lead you to believe. Steve Nash and Dwight Howard to the Lakers, Deron Williams signing with the Nets and Joe Johnson joining him and even Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan re-signing with the C’s and Spurs, respectively, were stories that we heard about all summer long. As we close in on the 2012-2013 season, it’s time to take a look back at 10 moves that didn’t get enough notice this offseason. Read More »

With sports, we’re all clock watchers. Its lure doesn’t go away once the season is over — it might even make it worse. The day after Miami won the NBA championship in June, power rankings were already being discussed for the 2012-13 season, much the same how a 2013 top-10 was already being mulled while Kentucky danced under confetti in April. Well, we’re looking ahead again. The free agency class of 2013 has been discussed since 2010′s sweepstakes finished, a discussion that has crept up again in light of Serge Ibaka‘s four-year contract with Oklahoma City over the weekend. Read More »